Black Italian politician defies racism

ALTHOUGH she's been targeted with racial slurs so vile an inquiry has been ordered, Italy's first black minister is determined to change people's minds.

AAPMay 4, 20132:12pm

ITALY'S first black Cabinet minister, targeted by racist slurs following her recent appointment, says Italians aren't racist but that some are merely ignorant of other cultures and the &quot;richness&quot; that immigration can bring.

Congolese-born surgeon Cecile Kyenge held a news conference on Friday to introduce herself to Italians so they could get to know her.

"I am not 'coloured.' I am black. It's important to say that. I emphasise it proudly," she said.

Kyenge's appointment as integration minister had been hailed as a big step for Italy, which has only recently had to cope with waves of immigration and the resulting problems of integration into a largely homogeneous society.

But the move prompted racist taunts from xenophobic politicians and members of neo-fascist internet groups - a reaction so vile the government authorised its anti-discrimination office to investigate.

One European parliamentarian from the anti-immigrant Northern League party called her a member of a "bongo bongo government".

One of her chief defenders, lower house speaker Laura Boldrini, told La Repubblica in an interview posted on its website on Friday that she herself has been the target of death threats, which began after she stated publicly that Italy's laws about inciting racial hatred on the internet should be tightened.

Kyenge, in her comments, thanked her defenders, but refrained from lashing out at her detractors.

She stressed that Italy has a long tradition of welcoming foreigners and that that tradition must be appreciated anew and applied in daily life.

"In reality, Italy isn't a racist country," she told reporters. The problem, she said, was ignorance of the "other".

"We need to knock down these walls: Until you know the other, scepticism grows, discrimination grows," she said. "At this point, what is identified as racism has at its base not knowing other cultures. Because in reality, immigration is a richness. Diversity is a resource."

Kyenge, 48, was born in Congo and moved to Italy three decades ago to study medicine. An eye surgeon, she lives in Modena with her Italian husband and two children.

She was active in local centre-left politics before winning a seat in the lower Chamber of Deputies in February's elections, and Premier Enrico Letta brought her into his coalition government last week.